BACKGROUND / ABOUT US
We are a couple in our mid-30s with one 7 year-old daughter. We generally travel twice per year, in the summer and winter. This was our first Disney cruise; we have cruised before with Norwegian and Azamara. We frequently stay at all-inclusive resorts in the winter. I will split up our review into categories, and may end up adding more later if I have forgotten things, or I might do a day-by-day report if time allows! I know I found all these reports to be very helpful when I was planning/obsessing over our upcoming cruise!
EMBARKATION
HIS: Embarkation was pretty painless. The bus pickup at the airport was clearly marked and the process for check-in was easy to navigate. Luggage drop-off was easy and well marked for quick reference. The only confusing part of the process was that after we checked in at the airport, they gave us a boarding pass # for when we could board the ship. When we arrived at the terminal, to complete check-in, they gave us a different #. We used the # from the airport, and went aboard without problem.
HERS: To add to this, I will comment that the terminal was clean and well organized. Staff at the terminal were pleasant and helpful. We lined up in the kids club area to get our daughters wristband, which included a RFID tag for tracking the childs whereabouts. The line moved quickly. We had pre-registered her online. Be sure to remember your password as they will ask you for it each time you check out your child from the kids club. When we entered the ship there was a DCL staff member who announced our family.
ENTERTAINMENT (GENERAL)
HIS: Entertainment was fantastic. The shows that were put on were amazing. The set pieces and costumes were amazing, and the acting and singing were wonderful. Easy to get lost in the story and enjoy the presentation. Wonderful work by the cast and crew of these shows to really try to entertain the crowds. The shows were very good as well at holding the attention of both myself and our 7-year-old daughter.
HERS: If you have been on a DCL cruise before, or have reviewed the Navigators posted on this site, you know there are lots of choices for entertainment for people of all ages. Our family really only took advantage of the evening shows, which we attended before our 8:15 p.m. dinner time. After the show was over there was time each night to go back to our stateroom and change for dinner. Shows were excellent. The first night was probably my least favourite. I most enjoyed Disney Dreams. We missed the show on the last night, so I cant comment on that one. Shows included special effects like pyrotechnics, bubbles, falling snow, streamers, etc. lots of fun for the kids. The pirate party was fun too mostly for the kids to enjoy the characters dancing onstage. The show ended with fireworks; I recommend being on the starboard side of the ship, as we were not and our view was blocked by the stack. They had a dessert buffet afterwards, which we did not enjoy since we had the late dinner seating and were not the least bit hungry! The only other activity aside from the evening shows that we did was the tour of the ship on the first day. For first-time DCL cruisers I thought this was nice to do as we got a good overview of the ship and a chance to briefly see some of the abundant artwork around the ship.
ENTERTAINMENT (FOR KIDS)
HIS: Kids clubs were second to none. Always something going on, keeping the kids occupied. Our daughter couldnt wait to go back to play some more.
HERS: Our daughter loved the activities for kids. The club side had a jungle gym of sorts that she liked. The lab side had some fun activities, some of which I popped in to watch, such as Ratatouille Cooking School where the kids got to wear chefs hats and make chocolate chip cookies. On the last sea day all the kids prepared a show that was presented in the theatre called Friendship Rocks, which parents were invited to attend. Each child got a free t-shirt to wear. On Castaway Cay, the kids club was set up in a sandy enclosed area. Activities our daughter told us about were volleyball, blowing bubbles, soccer and sand-castle building. We met up with our daughter at the designated time for the Monstro Whale Dig, where you dig in the sand around a whale skeleton replica to find hidden whale teeth, etc. We had no complaints whatsoever about the staff. They were also very conscious of having everyone entering the area clean their hands. The tracking device on the kids wristbands allowed them to see which side of the kids clubs the child was in, and they always checked them out using the password determined by the parents. The parents name and time of check-out was always recorded.
DINING / FOOD / DRINKS
HIS: Food was phenomenal. Such variety and choice. Delicious is an understatement. Recommendation for others, buy the beer package on the ship on embarkation day. It was $120 for 24 imported beer, which is $5 per beer. Saving you money on purchasing one at a time, and making it easier to take some beer on the excursions. We went to Trunk Bay, and the beer was $6.50, so saved some money there.
HERS: I am thinking of doing a separate review just for food and drink, since I took a lot of photos of the food! We usually ordered coffee (a pot of regular for him, a pot of decaf for me) via room service and it was exactly on time each morning. We had breakfast only once at the buffet, twice at Lumieres (good eggs Benedict, and Mrs. Potts waffle stack), twice at Parrot Cay. Lunch was usually around the pool; the fast food was very good, and Im not much of a fast food person. Chicken tenders and fries, thin crust pizza, paninis and wraps (I liked the chicken Caesar wrap), fresh food always at Goofys Galley. I also must say I enjoyed Cove Café, and used the buy 5, get 1 free punch card. Dinners were good as well, but especially Palo highly recommend having dinner here and enjoying the fantastic beef tenderloin, and chocolate soufflé! Negatives related to food: coffee was nasty sorry, but it was! At Cove Café it was good, but you have to pay for it, and if you only drink regular brewed coffee the closest thing to it at the café is Americano, which is very strong. Pancakes were poor everywhere I tried them; I didnt mind the French toast and waffles. Smoothies at Goofys were poor, unless I got them on a bad day.
STATEROOM & SHIP
HIS: Stateroom was very comfortable for what it is. Its tiny, so not somewhere you spend a ton of time, but they are very clean and comfortable.
HERS: Since our airfare was so expensive, we opted for a standard inside stateroom. Weve had an inside stateroom on one of our other cruises, and the size of this one was similar. Décor was much more attractive than on Norwegian though, and there is a nice heavy curtain that blocks off the bed from the pull-out sofa, which I appreciated since we had a night-light plugged in for our daughter, and I like the room dark to sleep in. The bathroom was very tiny. I brought an over-the-door organizer, which was helpful for holding lotions, etc. The shower was hot and good pressure. H2O shampoo, conditioner, and body lotion were provided. In the dresser drawer there are room service breakfast menus that you fill out and hang on your doorknob in the evening. Our stateroom attendant was excellent, with a clean-up during the day, and another tidy during evening turn-down.
ITINERARY & EXCURSIONS
HERS: First off, I will say we did not choose this cruise for the itinerary; we chose it for the Disney cruise experience. There were not as many ports as we have done in past 7 night cruises. We stopped at St. Maarten, St. Thomas and Castaway Cay. In St. Maarten we did a private excursion with Bernards. If anyone is interested I can give more detail. In St. Thomas we did the Disney Trunk Bay Sail & Snorkel excursion. Castaway Cay was a great day. I would happily stay there for a week. While our daughter was at the kids club on the island, we went to Serenity Bay, the adults-only beach, and it was peaceful and lovely, with lots of loungers and hammocks, and a great lunch (fresh grilled meats, including fish) at the adults-only restaurant.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
HIS: Customer service was okay. On our first full day, we went to guest services because one of our wave phones werent working. We checked back daily, and were told that tech was looking at it, and on day 5 of the trip, we finally got the phone back. Disappointing, but not a deal breaker.
HERS: As he said, I was disappointed with the front desk customer service regarding our wave phone. In all other areas aside from the front desk regarding that problem, the staff was excellent.
STAFF IN GENERAL
HIS: Service staff was wonderful. Stateroom host/ess and servers were wonderful. They seemed to take a personal interest in you, and really were concerned about you. I was sick for most of the cruise, and they all expressed an interest in how I was feeling, and expressed hopes that I would feel better soon.
HERS: Excellent better than past cruises, including Azamara, which advertised itself as a luxury line. Staff were almost always pleasant and eager to please.
DISEMBARKATION
HIS: Easy process. The night before, you mark your bags with the provided luggage tags, and place them in the hall that night. They are picked up and stored for you for easy removal from the ship. The following morning after you leave the ship, your bags await in the designated pick-up area. There are porters that are there to help if you have a lot of bags, but they do not work directly for Disney and DO expect a tip for helping you get your bags to the proper transport back to the airport or to your other destination. Finding the right transport is easy. Tell the staff where youre going, and they direct you to the correct bus transport.
HERS: I think he covered it. No issues with disembarkation.
OVERALL ASSESSMENT & COMPARISON TO PAST VACATIONS
HERS: I just asked our daughter for her overall assessment and she said Awesome! My opinion is strongly influenced by the fact that my husband was sick for all but the first day. Two days he was not even able to get out of bed and had a high fever. He was not able to get off the ship at St. Maarten, and I dined alone a few of times, and the other times he was only able to eat a wee bit. This put a big damper on our enjoyment of the cruise. If that had not been a factor, I know we would have enjoyed it much more. If I try to ignore that major issue, I would say I rate this cruise overall as a 4 out of 5. Pros: The ship is lovely, food was very good, love the rotational dining, nice stateroom, I liked the adult areas to get some peace and quiet, staff were excellent, and DCL had everything very well organized and on schedule. Cons: Crowded and noisy public areas (probably a given for this type of cruise), fewer ports per week than other cruise lines, more expensive than many other cruise lines although this would not deter me from choosing DCL again, and if you want photos with characters be prepared to wait in long lines. If we cruise again, I would definitely consider DCL if the price is right. However, I do find an all-inclusive or hotel at a beach location to be more relaxing, so this is probably what we will do next winter.
We are a couple in our mid-30s with one 7 year-old daughter. We generally travel twice per year, in the summer and winter. This was our first Disney cruise; we have cruised before with Norwegian and Azamara. We frequently stay at all-inclusive resorts in the winter. I will split up our review into categories, and may end up adding more later if I have forgotten things, or I might do a day-by-day report if time allows! I know I found all these reports to be very helpful when I was planning/obsessing over our upcoming cruise!
EMBARKATION
HIS: Embarkation was pretty painless. The bus pickup at the airport was clearly marked and the process for check-in was easy to navigate. Luggage drop-off was easy and well marked for quick reference. The only confusing part of the process was that after we checked in at the airport, they gave us a boarding pass # for when we could board the ship. When we arrived at the terminal, to complete check-in, they gave us a different #. We used the # from the airport, and went aboard without problem.
HERS: To add to this, I will comment that the terminal was clean and well organized. Staff at the terminal were pleasant and helpful. We lined up in the kids club area to get our daughters wristband, which included a RFID tag for tracking the childs whereabouts. The line moved quickly. We had pre-registered her online. Be sure to remember your password as they will ask you for it each time you check out your child from the kids club. When we entered the ship there was a DCL staff member who announced our family.
ENTERTAINMENT (GENERAL)
HIS: Entertainment was fantastic. The shows that were put on were amazing. The set pieces and costumes were amazing, and the acting and singing were wonderful. Easy to get lost in the story and enjoy the presentation. Wonderful work by the cast and crew of these shows to really try to entertain the crowds. The shows were very good as well at holding the attention of both myself and our 7-year-old daughter.
HERS: If you have been on a DCL cruise before, or have reviewed the Navigators posted on this site, you know there are lots of choices for entertainment for people of all ages. Our family really only took advantage of the evening shows, which we attended before our 8:15 p.m. dinner time. After the show was over there was time each night to go back to our stateroom and change for dinner. Shows were excellent. The first night was probably my least favourite. I most enjoyed Disney Dreams. We missed the show on the last night, so I cant comment on that one. Shows included special effects like pyrotechnics, bubbles, falling snow, streamers, etc. lots of fun for the kids. The pirate party was fun too mostly for the kids to enjoy the characters dancing onstage. The show ended with fireworks; I recommend being on the starboard side of the ship, as we were not and our view was blocked by the stack. They had a dessert buffet afterwards, which we did not enjoy since we had the late dinner seating and were not the least bit hungry! The only other activity aside from the evening shows that we did was the tour of the ship on the first day. For first-time DCL cruisers I thought this was nice to do as we got a good overview of the ship and a chance to briefly see some of the abundant artwork around the ship.
ENTERTAINMENT (FOR KIDS)
HIS: Kids clubs were second to none. Always something going on, keeping the kids occupied. Our daughter couldnt wait to go back to play some more.
HERS: Our daughter loved the activities for kids. The club side had a jungle gym of sorts that she liked. The lab side had some fun activities, some of which I popped in to watch, such as Ratatouille Cooking School where the kids got to wear chefs hats and make chocolate chip cookies. On the last sea day all the kids prepared a show that was presented in the theatre called Friendship Rocks, which parents were invited to attend. Each child got a free t-shirt to wear. On Castaway Cay, the kids club was set up in a sandy enclosed area. Activities our daughter told us about were volleyball, blowing bubbles, soccer and sand-castle building. We met up with our daughter at the designated time for the Monstro Whale Dig, where you dig in the sand around a whale skeleton replica to find hidden whale teeth, etc. We had no complaints whatsoever about the staff. They were also very conscious of having everyone entering the area clean their hands. The tracking device on the kids wristbands allowed them to see which side of the kids clubs the child was in, and they always checked them out using the password determined by the parents. The parents name and time of check-out was always recorded.
DINING / FOOD / DRINKS
HIS: Food was phenomenal. Such variety and choice. Delicious is an understatement. Recommendation for others, buy the beer package on the ship on embarkation day. It was $120 for 24 imported beer, which is $5 per beer. Saving you money on purchasing one at a time, and making it easier to take some beer on the excursions. We went to Trunk Bay, and the beer was $6.50, so saved some money there.
HERS: I am thinking of doing a separate review just for food and drink, since I took a lot of photos of the food! We usually ordered coffee (a pot of regular for him, a pot of decaf for me) via room service and it was exactly on time each morning. We had breakfast only once at the buffet, twice at Lumieres (good eggs Benedict, and Mrs. Potts waffle stack), twice at Parrot Cay. Lunch was usually around the pool; the fast food was very good, and Im not much of a fast food person. Chicken tenders and fries, thin crust pizza, paninis and wraps (I liked the chicken Caesar wrap), fresh food always at Goofys Galley. I also must say I enjoyed Cove Café, and used the buy 5, get 1 free punch card. Dinners were good as well, but especially Palo highly recommend having dinner here and enjoying the fantastic beef tenderloin, and chocolate soufflé! Negatives related to food: coffee was nasty sorry, but it was! At Cove Café it was good, but you have to pay for it, and if you only drink regular brewed coffee the closest thing to it at the café is Americano, which is very strong. Pancakes were poor everywhere I tried them; I didnt mind the French toast and waffles. Smoothies at Goofys were poor, unless I got them on a bad day.
STATEROOM & SHIP
HIS: Stateroom was very comfortable for what it is. Its tiny, so not somewhere you spend a ton of time, but they are very clean and comfortable.
HERS: Since our airfare was so expensive, we opted for a standard inside stateroom. Weve had an inside stateroom on one of our other cruises, and the size of this one was similar. Décor was much more attractive than on Norwegian though, and there is a nice heavy curtain that blocks off the bed from the pull-out sofa, which I appreciated since we had a night-light plugged in for our daughter, and I like the room dark to sleep in. The bathroom was very tiny. I brought an over-the-door organizer, which was helpful for holding lotions, etc. The shower was hot and good pressure. H2O shampoo, conditioner, and body lotion were provided. In the dresser drawer there are room service breakfast menus that you fill out and hang on your doorknob in the evening. Our stateroom attendant was excellent, with a clean-up during the day, and another tidy during evening turn-down.
ITINERARY & EXCURSIONS
HERS: First off, I will say we did not choose this cruise for the itinerary; we chose it for the Disney cruise experience. There were not as many ports as we have done in past 7 night cruises. We stopped at St. Maarten, St. Thomas and Castaway Cay. In St. Maarten we did a private excursion with Bernards. If anyone is interested I can give more detail. In St. Thomas we did the Disney Trunk Bay Sail & Snorkel excursion. Castaway Cay was a great day. I would happily stay there for a week. While our daughter was at the kids club on the island, we went to Serenity Bay, the adults-only beach, and it was peaceful and lovely, with lots of loungers and hammocks, and a great lunch (fresh grilled meats, including fish) at the adults-only restaurant.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
HIS: Customer service was okay. On our first full day, we went to guest services because one of our wave phones werent working. We checked back daily, and were told that tech was looking at it, and on day 5 of the trip, we finally got the phone back. Disappointing, but not a deal breaker.
HERS: As he said, I was disappointed with the front desk customer service regarding our wave phone. In all other areas aside from the front desk regarding that problem, the staff was excellent.
STAFF IN GENERAL
HIS: Service staff was wonderful. Stateroom host/ess and servers were wonderful. They seemed to take a personal interest in you, and really were concerned about you. I was sick for most of the cruise, and they all expressed an interest in how I was feeling, and expressed hopes that I would feel better soon.
HERS: Excellent better than past cruises, including Azamara, which advertised itself as a luxury line. Staff were almost always pleasant and eager to please.
DISEMBARKATION
HIS: Easy process. The night before, you mark your bags with the provided luggage tags, and place them in the hall that night. They are picked up and stored for you for easy removal from the ship. The following morning after you leave the ship, your bags await in the designated pick-up area. There are porters that are there to help if you have a lot of bags, but they do not work directly for Disney and DO expect a tip for helping you get your bags to the proper transport back to the airport or to your other destination. Finding the right transport is easy. Tell the staff where youre going, and they direct you to the correct bus transport.
HERS: I think he covered it. No issues with disembarkation.
OVERALL ASSESSMENT & COMPARISON TO PAST VACATIONS
HERS: I just asked our daughter for her overall assessment and she said Awesome! My opinion is strongly influenced by the fact that my husband was sick for all but the first day. Two days he was not even able to get out of bed and had a high fever. He was not able to get off the ship at St. Maarten, and I dined alone a few of times, and the other times he was only able to eat a wee bit. This put a big damper on our enjoyment of the cruise. If that had not been a factor, I know we would have enjoyed it much more. If I try to ignore that major issue, I would say I rate this cruise overall as a 4 out of 5. Pros: The ship is lovely, food was very good, love the rotational dining, nice stateroom, I liked the adult areas to get some peace and quiet, staff were excellent, and DCL had everything very well organized and on schedule. Cons: Crowded and noisy public areas (probably a given for this type of cruise), fewer ports per week than other cruise lines, more expensive than many other cruise lines although this would not deter me from choosing DCL again, and if you want photos with characters be prepared to wait in long lines. If we cruise again, I would definitely consider DCL if the price is right. However, I do find an all-inclusive or hotel at a beach location to be more relaxing, so this is probably what we will do next winter.
